12 must-know facts about mobile video

But just what is mobile’s real potential, and where are the hidden opportunities for brands and advertisers? Here’s a round-up of must-know facts about mobile video.

1. Mobile video viewers won’t wait more than 3 seconds for content to load before losing interest, according to the University of Massachusetts. Video delivery needs to be instant to have any impact.

2. U.S. ad spending for mobile video is set to quadruple to nearly $2.1 billion by 2016. That’s more than 25 percent of all digital video ad spending, but still less than 10 percent of all mobile ad spending. Mobile video ad spend still has a tremendous growth opportunity.

3. According to the IAB, two-thirds of smartphone owners watch at least an hour of mobile video per week. That’s a lot of preroll for the likes of HuluPlus, ABC News for iPad and Cookie Monster jams.

4. But mobile video content is not the only place to reach consumers with video ads. Trends show that consumers spend the most time using mobile apps for social networking (26 percent) and gaming (43 percent). Skate to where the puck is headed.

5. US adults will spend two hours and 21 minutes per day with mobile, surpassing time spent online. Digital overall (mobile and online) is set to surpass TV in time spent with media this year for the first time ever, with digital video leading the charge.

6. Consumers pay pretty close attention to those smaller screens: According to Nielsen, in-app mobile video ads are four times more effective than regular television spots at driving purchase intent and are 2.5 times more effective than online.

7. Advertisers looking for in-app video placement should consider this: In general, in-app ads performed 1.7 times better than mobile web according to Opera Mediaworks.

8. There were 13.4 billion apps downloaded globally in the first quarter of 2013. That’s a generous heaping of eyeballs for mobile video ads.

9. Apple devices dominated the share of total mobile video ad views in Q1 2013 with over 75 percent of views compared to Android’s 23 percent. However, in the second quarter of 2013, downloads on Google Play (Android) exceeded those on the App Store (iOS) by 10 percent. Buyers take note: Android inventory is no longer the long suffering younger sibling of iOS.

10. 92 percent of mobile phone consumers share mobile video content with others. Sharing in person or via social networks are the most preferred methods. Let’s get physical…or digital.

11. Social video sharing has the attention of consumers and brands. In June, Vine was the top-downloaded non-game app, while Instagram users uploaded 5 million clips in the video-sharing app’s first 24 hours. Since then, brands including Honda, CVS and Urban Outfitters have tried Vine, while Zappos and Malibu have tried Instagram.

12. Although fewer people own tablets than smartphones (1.9 billion smartphones will be sold worldwide in 2013, compared to about 202 million tablets), time spent viewing video on tablets is nearly equal to that on smartphones, according to Business Insider.